Search Engine Optimization
The key to a successful business generally begins with one thing: location, location, location. Location is even more important on the internet. What kind of location are we speaking of? Top rankings for your website in the ever coveted Google search results.
The top spot in Google has rapidly become one of the most sought after spots on the Internet. Why? Because Google has quickly established itself as the dominant leader in search engine traffic. Google currently commands nearly 70% of all search engine traffic. On average, the #1 position in the search engines gets 42% of the visitors. Take a minute and ask yourself: “How important is it for my site to rank at the top of Google and the other search engines?” Your answer should be a simply stated “Very”.
About Search Engine Optimization:
Search Engine Optimization is the most complex form of internet marketing and also the most rewarding. Optimizing websites for the search engines is a skilled trade that can deliver amazing amounts of traffic to your website when completed properly. Ranking #1 in Google for a competitive term is similar to having a large billboard in Times Square. But the most beneficial thing about SEO is that your website is available to prospective customers at the very moment that they’re interested in your product or service, even 3 a.m. on a holiday or while they’re at work. What other form of marketing allows you to do that?
Search engines rely on several complex factors to determine how relevant, reputable, and important a site is. An in-depth understanding of how search engine algorithms work is extremely important to SEO, but knowing when and where to take action is the true key to success. A qualified search engine optimizer understands how to correctly balance factors on and off the website in order to achieve positive results. Here are a few simple examples of on-site and off-site factors that influence how Google and the other search engines decide who comes up on top:
Key Search Engine Ranking Factors:
- Good: Keyword use in the title tag, headers, and body text
- Good: Keyword included in the domain name
- Good: Keyword included in the url
- Good: Keyword included in the text of inbound links
- Good: The more inbound links, the better
- Good: The more popular the referring site is, the better
- Good: Inbound links from other authority sites in your field
- Good: Page Rank funneled to landing pages
- Bad: Outbound links to bad neighborhoods (spammy sites)
- Bad: Lack of content or content not indexable (i.e. Java, Flash)
- Bad: Improper use of redirects
- Bad: Use of curse words or hate language
- Bad: Keyword stuffing
The list above has some of the most important ranking factors in the Google algorithm, but those are just the tip of the iceburg. No one really knows for sure what is contained in the algorithm, but there are over 1500 known factors that have been determined to be accurate by the SEO community. Google makes changes to the algorithm continually (average of 9 changes a week) in order to make their results more relevant and combat search engine spam.
So why should you do Search Engine Optimization?
- Targeting: With SEO you’re only advertising to companies that are interested enough in your product or service that they searched for it, as opposed to most other forms of advertising where you hope that if you get your message out to enough people that someone will be interested.
- Timing: SEO allows you to reach your target audience at the very moment they’re interested.
- Visibility: Search Engine Optimization makes even obscure and hard to define products easy to find.
- Branding: Companies at the top of Google are considered by searchers to be the top companies in their field.
- Profitability: SEO has the highest Return on Investment of any major form of marketing.
Challenges in SEO
The hardest part about SEO is that it requires patience; a rare commodity this day and age. Website owners are generally much more willing to spend outrageous amounts of money on Pay-Per-Click advertising to get immediate traffic to their site than they are to spend a small fraction of that amount on SEO and have significantly better results after a few months. None of us like to wait for anything this day and age, but unfortunatly that’s how it works in SEO. The bright side to this is that short-sighted companies will never do SEO which makes it much easier for wise companies who are focusing on the big picutre to get their brands to the top of the search engines and keep them there.
Overview:
Search Engine Optimization is one of the most efficient and effective methods of marketing. Whether you’re a blue chip company marketing on a national level or a small mom and pop shop marketing in a small town, SEO provides a way for consumers to find you. Being at the top of Google instills confidence in your potential customers that you’re the best in your field. The results of SEO can be easily measured through free analytical tools that can be effortlessly installed on your website. To top it all off, SEO has the highest ROI of any major form of marketing. Still not convinced that it’s for you? Take a look at the numbers:
Internet Marketing Statistics:
- 74% of people use search engines to research products online before making a purchase
- 54% of people use search engines to find the site they purchase from
- 36% of search engine users report that they believe listings at the top of the search results are the leaders in their field
- 40% of users 24?45 years old associate top search results to company prominence
- 80% of all first-time visitors to your website result from search engine queries
- Over 43% of people who bought products or services online found the website via a search engine
- Consumers are nearly 5 times more likely to buy after seeing search listings versus banners
- People who spend 5 or more hours a week online average an astounding 71% of their time searching for information
Search Engine Statistics:
- 61 billion searches were performed online worldwide in August 2007
- 160 million Google searches are currently performed daily
- 59% of all searches are made on Google. 22% are made on Yahoo, and 10% on MSN
- 38 million people use search engines daily
- 21% of people use a search engine 4 or more times a day
- 90% of users click on results within the first 3 pages
- 62% of search engine users click on results within the first page of search results
- 88% change search term and/or search engine within the first 3 pages of results
Internet Statistics:
- 79.1 million Americans have access to the internet at work (how else can you reach consumers while they are at work?)
- High?speed internet connections exist in 53% of all U.S. households
- The average consumer in America now spends equal time on the internet and watching TV
- 63% of adult Americans use the internet daily
- Broadband services account for 72% of all home internet subscriptions
- 85% of consumers with annual income over $50,000 use the internet regularly
- Adoption of high?speed internet is expected to reach 70% of all U.S. households by 2012
- Dial?up service currently serves 33 million internet users
- 83 million Americans have bought products online at least once
SEO can help your company to be found by the people who need your products or services. Call us today for a free quote on what it will take to get your site to the top of Google, Yahoo and the other search engines.
There are a few primary methods of internet marketing:
